Statins do not appear to reduce the incidence of cancer
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The cholesterol-lowering medications called statins do not appear to reduce the incidence of cancer or cancer deaths, according to a meta-analysis of previous studies in the January 4 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Other studies have suggested that statins reduce the risk of developing cancer, the authors provide as background information in the review article. “Statins have been studied in numerous large-scale, randomized, active- or placebo-controlled trials for primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. In these trials, statins reduced the risk of a first myocardial infarction (heart attack) and overall mortality. With long-term follow-up and collection of cancer data in a majority of studies, insight into the risk of cancer among statin-na? persons and statin users can be derived,” the authors write.
Girls and black infants have better chances of survival when born very premature
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Black baby girls born weighing 2.2 pounds or less are more than twice as likely to survive as white baby boys born at the same weight, when many preemies are still too tiny to make it on their own, University of Florida researchers have found.
Analyzing data from more than 5,000 premature births, UF researchers pinpointed a link between gender and race and the survival rates of babies born at extremely low weights, according to findings released in the journal Pediatrics. It’s the first scientific evidence of a phenomenon doctors have observed for years, said Steven B. Morse, M.D., M.P.H., a UF assistant professor of pediatrics and the article’s lead author.
Singapore nets US cancer experts in biomedics drive
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When top U.S. scientists Neal Copeland and Nancy Jenkins arrive in Singapore to set up a new cancer research project, they will bring some extraordinary luggage: thousands and thousands of mice.
The husband-and-wife team will bring 50 to 100 different strains of mice for their research into the most common types of human cancer when they move to the city-state in coming weeks. Their decision to relocate to Singapore—which they chose over leading U.S. cancer research centers at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering and California’s Stanford University—is a coup for Singapore, where the government is spending billions of dollars to develop its biomedical industry.
Neighborhood affects risk of heart attack
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The economic situation of people’s neighborhoods may affect their risk of suffering a heart attack, a study in Sweden suggests.
Researchers found that among 3,610 adults living near the urban area of Stockholm, those living in lower-income neighborhoods had a higher rate of heart attack than those in more affluent areas. And the risk was not fully explained by a person’s own income, education and occupation - factors that many studies have linked to disease and death risk.
Scientists develop prototype drug to prevent osteoporosis based on cannabinoids produced by body
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Substances produced in the body that act like those found in the cannabis plant help preserve bone density, according to researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Based on this finding, a prototype for a new drug to prevent osteoporosis (loss of bone density) without any psychoactive side effects has already been developed.
An article describing this research appears this week in the prestigious American journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.). The researchers, from the Bone Laboratory of the Hebrew University, are headed by Prof. Itai Bab, working in cooperation with Prof. Esther Shohami of the Laboratory for the Study of Bain Trauma; Prof. Raphael Mechoulam of the Hebrew University School of Pharmacy; doctoral students Orr Ofek, Vardits Krem and Yossi Tam; and master’s degree student Meirav Fogel.
Expert slashes hospital waiting times
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Day surgery waiting times at South Tyneside District Hospital in the North East of England have been slashed from nine months to three weeks as a result of a business improvement technique developed by the University of Sunderland.
Key stakeholders at South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust were involved in the redesign of the Day Surgery Direct system after Maureen Tann, head of the Trust’s performance management, attended a University of Sunderland Process Improvement for Strategic Objectives (PISO) course.
Unsafe neighborhoods linked to children’s weight
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Children who live in dangerous neighborhoods are more likely to be overweight than those who live in safer environments, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that 7-year-olds whose parents felt their neighborhood was unsafe were up to four times more likely than other children to be overweight. The study did not investigate the reasons for the link, but the researchers suspect that fearful parents may often keep their children from playing outdoors, which limits their amount of physical activity.
New Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer Has Fewer Side Effects
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A new radiation therapy for prostate cancer—Cesium-131 brachytherapy—has fewer side effects than other treatments. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center is the only hospital in the Northeast to offer the new therapy.
Brachytherapy involves the implantation of radioactive seeds into the tumor site. Radiation kills or arrests the growth of the cancer with minimal damage to healthy tissue. This helps prevent incontinence and preserve the nerves that allow for erection.
Exercise helps elderly heal
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The body’s ability to heal even small skin wounds normally slows down as we age. But a new study in older adults finds that regular exercise may speed up the wound-healing process by as much as 25 percent.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to document this kind of enhancement associated with exercise,” said Charles Emery, a professor of psychology and the lead author of the Ohio State University study.
Elevated homocysteine levels may be a biomarker for increased risk of AMD
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People who have elevated homocysteine in their blood, an amino acid that is a known biomarker for cardiovascular disease, may also be at an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
This research was conducted at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Devers Eye Institute in Portland, Ore.
Kids’, teens’ immunization schedule updated
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The 2006 Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule includes new recommendations for immunizing against meningitis, whooping cough (pertussis), influenza, hepatitis A and hepatitis B, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today.
Acrylamide not seen to affect colon cancer risk
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The media gave a lot of space last year to the possible cancer risk posed by high levels of acrylamide in cooked and especially fried snacks like potato chips, pretzels and popcorn. However, a new study has found that dietary intake of acrylamide does not appear to be associated with colorectal cancer in women
“There has been considerable discourse about whether exposure to acrylamide in foods could increase the risk of human cancer,” Dr. Lorelei A. Mucci, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues write in the International Journal of Cancer. “Acrylamide is classified as a probable human carcinogen, and animal studies have demonstrated an increased incidence of tumors in rats exposed to very high levels.”
Screening advised for families with lung diseases
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New research suggests that genetics may make people susceptible to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and reduced lung function. If so, then a family history of these disorders should place individuals in the high-risk category.
If they also have a history of smoking, then they should be screened with a CT scan, investigators suggest in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Heart transplants don’t last as long in black kids
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Transplanted hearts survive a significantly shorter time in black children than in other racial groups, according to a review of the records of 4227 pediatric heart transplant recipients, 717 (17 percent) of whom were black.
Dr. William T. Mahle and colleagues from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta found that the rate of heart transplants surviving for 5 years was 51 percent for black recipients versus 69 percent for other recipients.
China confirms new bird flu outbreak in southwest
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China confirmed a bird flu outbreak in the southwestern province of Sichuan, a Food and Agriculture Organisation official said, adding cold weather and Chinese New Year holidays could mean more cases to come.
More than 1,800 poultry were found dead on Dec. 22 on a farm in Sichuan’s Dazhu county and Agriculture Ministry officials sent to the area confirmed the birds had the H5N1 strain of the virus.
